


Through The Stars

by Hekate1308



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Captain Crowley, First officer Dean Winchester, M/M, android!Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24588397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekate1308/pseuds/Hekate1308
Summary: The one thing Dean hadn’t foreseen when he had received his commission as the first officer on the flagship of the Federation under someone as legendary as Captain Crowley was that he’d serve with someone like – well, with someone who was, strictly speaking, neither a human nor another life form.He'd taken it in stride, though. Castiel might have been as cool as a cucumber, and his positronic cells might have been able to do millions of calculations per minute, and he didn’t quite understand humour, but he was stull the best officer Dean had ever worked with.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	Through The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I watch TNG and think of destiel. Enjoy!

“Alright, how far away are we from the Carraya system?” Dean asked.

“About two hours at warp eight, Commander” Castiel, the only android in Starfleet, answered calmly, as always.

The one thing Dean hadn’t foreseen when he had received his commission as the first officer on the flagship of the Federation under someone as legendary as Captain Crowley was that he’d serve with someone like – well, with someone who was, strictly speaking, neither a human nor another life form.

He'd taken it in stride, though. Castiel might have been as cool as a cucumber, and his positronic cells might have been able to do millions of calculations per minute, and he didn’t quite understand humour, but he was stull the best officer Dean had ever worked with.

“Excellent” Crowley – _no need to call me Captain, Squirrel, but if you should ever wish to say something else, like Great One, for example, I wouldn’t have anything against it_ – said. “We should be exactly on time to repair our warp coil.”

It had unexpectedly given way a few days ago during a scientific study of a nebula many lightyears away, but thankfully their Chief Engineer Charlie had managed to fix it up long enough to get a spare.

Dean personally was rather excited about going back to the nebula – there had been some interesting readings; and he was pretty sure that Crowley had been equally disappointed at having to defer their mission, so that he was looking forward to continuing soon.

Pilus, it was a good distraction from…

His eyes were once more lingering on Castiel – or Cas, as he had nicknamed him (“Commander, do I correctly assume that you just shortened my name in order to show affection and respect?” “Yep, Cas, that’d be the reason”). They said that his creator had modelled him after himself, prompting Dean to suspect that Dr. Collins had actually been the most ridiculously hot man in history or had had a bit of a narcissist.

Those eyes, for one thing. Who had eyes that blue? Not that Dean hadn’t seen his fair share of alien eyes, but he hardly believed he’d ever seen that colour on humans.

And then there was the hair that was always slightly in disarray, and the stubble…

Damn, Cas was _hot_.

Not that Dean would do anything about that. Apart from… well, everything else – and a partner not having emotions was a big no-no for him – he didn’t even know if he was… functional in certain regards.

He blinked and forced himself to focus on the here and now. “May I suggest giving the crew shore life while the repairs are being done, sir?”

“Why not, Squirrel. Might as well give them the time to relax.”

Crowley, it was true, was the last person to do so himself – in the two years since Dean had joined the crew, he had yet to see the captain take leave voluntarily and not because Doctor Talbot forced him to.

“The water falls on Carraya are particularly pleasing this time of the year, Commander” Cas said, 2I would be glad to accompany you.”

Dean felt his face flush. He couldn’t; it would hardly help to go to a romantic spot with Cas –

“Sounds good.”

What in God’s name had he just said?

Crowley was studying him with a gleam in his eyes that proved he had guessed his thoughts; in fact, Dean was sure the bastard knew how he felt about Cas, had known since it had begun. There wasn’t much on this ship that flew under Crowley’s radar, unfortunately.

* * *

He was preparing to beam down when he heard the door sound and called out for whoever it was to enter.

He probably shouldn‘t have been surprised to see the Captain stroll into the room. “Thought you don’t like to leave the Bridge when your first officer’s not there.”

“Please, we both know Cassie is more than capable of handling things. And now tell me about this date you’re going to have with our resident positronic genius.”

“It’s not a date” he mumbled “And you know that. Cas probably read a book or ten about the place and wants to be nice.”

In his ever-lasting quest to find out more about humans, Cas had soon after Dean’s arrival latched on to him, perhaps prompted by what Crowley called his “disgustingly huge heart”. They had become friends – at least he was ready to call them friends – but again, anything else was of course out of the question. Could never happen.

“But you want it to be.”

It wasn’t a question. Crowley never did ask questions he already knew the answers to. It was part of what made him such an efficient officer, if also a demanding boss. Dean didn’t mind. He’d heard stories, of course, of how much of a bastard Crowley was, but really, once you got to know him, he wasn’t that bad. Sure, he could be a right son of a bitch if he wanted to, but tell him about a planet that needed saving, and off he went, even if he tried to hide it.

“Doesn’t matter much, does it? Cas is an android.” It was a fact that Dean told himself several times a day, mostly because it was so easy to forget, even with Cas’ signature head tilt and his tendency to stare.

“Yes, and as such programmed to imitate human life as closely as possible” Crowley pointed out.

“Well, yes” he conceded because it was true. “But you know as well as I do that Dr. Collins didn’t program him with any feelings.” And boy did he remember from previous experience that he didn’t handle someone not reciprocating his affections while maintaining a relationship with him well.

“Ah” Crowley’s eyes narrowed.

If there was one thing Dean didn’t want to be known, it was what he’d been suspecting for the past month or two – that his feelings for Cas had slowly but surely gone beyond the crush stage and were now on full course towards unreciprocated love at warp speed.

He looked away, only becoming aware of the Captain’s presence again when Crowley’s hand landed on his shoulder.

Oh oh. He was actually looking worried. This, Dean well knew, was a bad sign.

“Squirrel…” he began, hesitated, started to speak again. Dean was his first officer, and as such probably the only confidant he had on board; they were used to speaking plainly to each other. “I don’t deny I’ve teased you with your crush, but if you think this could hurt you...”

“It already has” he admitted to him what he’d barely admitted to himself, “But I’ll deal.” He had to. Could hardly serve efficiently if he didn’t, now, could he?

Crowley studied his face, then nodded. “I’m here” he said simply, letting Dean know that he could always come to him; then he turned and left. Just before he went through the door, however, he said, “This never happened” as he always did.

Good old Crowley. Soft as hell on the inside.

* * *

By the time Dean arrived at the transporters, Cas was already waiting for him.

“There you are, boy” the transporter Chief said roughly but not without affection.

“Hi Bobby.”

The old curmudgeon had been serving on the Enterprise since before Dean went to Academy.

“You two have fun” he told Cas, who was studying him with his head tilted to the side, as usual.

“I do believe that we will, in fact, _have fun_ ” (oh God the quoty fingers Dena was doomed).

“That’s what I wanted to hear, lad” Bobby said – Cas had long given up trying to explain that he wasn’t, and had never been a lad, since Dean had told him it meant Bobby liked him.

And so they transported down.

* * *

The waterfall was the most beautiful one Dean had ever seen, and his Dad’s friend Pastor Jim had taken him and his little brother to the Niagara Falls once.

Those had never changed colours while falling, though.

“This is achieved by a peculiarity of the light on Carraya, which means that –“ Cas stopped talking when he saw Dean’s expression. “I am sorry. I did not mean to “ruin the mood”.

Oh god. Two quoty fingers in one day. “Cas, I think it’s great how well-informed you are, it’s just – man, just let it sink in for a moment. It’s beautiful.”

“I do find the environs very aesthetically pleasing” Cas replied, which was high praise, as Dean well knew. “However, I do not find nature to be the only attraction”.

Dean was slightly puzzled by his expression as he said that – it didn’t look like one of his usual ones – but decided that a smile was the best response.

Cas seemed to be gratified, for he held up the bag he’d bright and cleared his throat. “I have come to understand that this is a nice spot for a picnic, as they say. I brought pie.”

“Cas” Dean beamed, his heart beating wildly, “Never change.”

He was doomed.

* * *

And so he smiled and ate his pie and told himself that he wasn’t too obvious, Cas’ unfamiliarity with feelings for once working in his favour.

Cas had always been good company, at least according to Dean. There were a few on the ship who found him unsettling, or were not open to the idea of an android serving in the first place, but neither he nor the Captain – and that was the important part; if Crowley didn’t want you on his ship, you weren’t going, no matter what – had ever shared those views.

Cas had a vast knowledge of – well, almost everything. Some because he had been programmed with it, and some because he always kept learning, constantly curious about the world and its people.

Dean had always found that so very endearing. An android who was fascinated by life forms who had been born instead of built.

And so he listened to Cas explain all about the flora on the planet while enjoying his pie, wondering how Collins had ever created someone so very beautiful inside and out.

“Dean? I am sorry. You do not appear to be listening. I must have –“

“No, no” he hastened to say, “You were just speaking a bit fast.” That, at least, was true. When Cas was divulging information, he could sometimes end up being downright ineligible.

And so he slowed down, his eyes sparkling, a smile on his lips.

Dean was so, _so_ screwed.

* * *

He was nothing if not professional, and so he did his duties, whether he was in love with an android or not.

What became painfully obvious over the next few weeks was that a. for some reason, Cas wanted to spend more and more time with him (which would have been great back when he’d been blissfully unaware just how deep his affection for him ran, because hey, more time with his best friend, but now?) and b. way too many people had guessed his feelings before he had.

When he and Cas beamed down on missions, he saw the pity in Bobby’s eyes, even if he tried to hide it under his usual roughness.

During Charlie and his game nights, the redhead, who normally was nothing if not curious, barely even mentioned Cas anymore, even though she was one of the android’s friends too.

And of course there were his and Sam’s talks. Sam was a lawyer working for Starfleet and stationed on earth, which was why they had quickly established that they’d have at least one subspace call per week when Dean had been assigned to the Enterprise; originally, he had decided against moaning about Cas to him; however, his brother knew him better than he knew himself.

“You haven’t mentioned Castile in a while” he observed one day.

Dean shrugged. “Nothing to tell” he mumbled.

It was a lie, of course. Just yesterday, Cas had invited him for a walk in the arboretum, and rather than listening to his head for once, he’d agreed.

It had been a mistake. Cas had been so attentive, so open, and so very fascinating in the light of artificial sundown, and Dean knew that if this continued, he was _seriously_ screwed.

Sam bit his lip. “Dean… he’s an android.”

“I know that” he snapped. “Kind of noticed.”

“So it’s serious.”

It wasn’t a question.

Dean looked away.

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault” he forced out a laugh. “Should’ve known that the perfect guy for me would be someone who had to literally be built in a lab.”

“I’m sure if you spoke to your captain, he could ensure that you don’t have to work with him that often…”

“He has to trust me to do my job, Sammy, and I can hardly expect him to understand that his first officer doesn’t want to deal with the science officer for the time being. No, I’ll muddle through, like always. You don’t have to worry about me.”

* * *

Only he soon found that, if Sam had known everything, he would indeed have worried.

For one, eh and Cas started having… well… he would have called them dates if this had been anyone else, but this was Cas, and Cas didn’t do dates because – what for?

And yet they constantly had drinks or dinner at ten-forward, went to the arboretum several times a week, watched the stars fly by through the windows when they were off-duty.

It was freaking confusing and yet brilliant in many ways, if only Dean could have hoped that it would eventually lead to something more.

He knew he should stop this. Cas just wanted to spend time with his friend and didn’t realize; it was Dean’s responsibility to be honest with him.

It really sucked, but what could he do?

And so he resolved to… well, he couldn’t really say _break up_ with him if they weren’t together, right? _Ending thin_ g _s_ also seemed to be the wrong term…

Not that it mattered, he told himself, It wasn’t as if Cas’ heart would break.

And so, that evening in Ten-Forward, he cleared his throat. “Cas, there’s something I would like to tell you.”

“Yes, Dean. Of course. You know I greatly enjoy our talks together. But may I suggest that, if you are to tell me that you have feelings for me and would like to engage in a relationship, I actually expected that development to occur at least a week ago.”

Dena blinked, slowly processing what he had heard. “What?”

“I have been trying out every possible method of wooing you – Chalice and Captain Crowley were most helpful – and so I thought…”

“Cas, wait, back up” he hastened to say. “Are you telling me that you’d actually… _like_ us to be in a relationship?”

“Yes.”

“But… I mean… not that I’m… against it or anything, but you’re an android.”

“Indeed I am. But I noticed some time ago that you have become… important to me. As a matter of fact, seeing you every day is an essential part of my schedule.”

Dean considered his next few words carefully. “But… you’re an android” he finally repeated. “You weren’t built for… feelings and stuff.”

Cas took his time to answer. “That may be true, but I value our relationship more than any other I have on this ship. And isn’t this part of a romantic entanglement, too?”

“I suppose” he finally said carefully, reaching out and taking his hand. “So, if I want, stuff like this is… okay?”

“I assure you it is more than that.”

Dean nodded. “So… we can kiss too, if we want?”

“I would be very curious to try.”

And, as Dean leaned forward, he knew there were still trial and tribulations in front of them as they navigated their relationship, not to mention their duties as Starfleet Officers; but even so, he couldn’t have been happier as the Enterprise continued to make its way through space.


End file.
